A test bench for the classification of boom sprayers according to drift risk

The proposed International Standard draft [ISO TC 23/SC 06 DIS 22369. Equipment for crop protection—drift classification of sprayers and nozzles.] to classify sprayers according to drift risk requires the sprayer to be operated in the field in well defined conditions of wind [ISO TC 23/SC 06 N 22866. Equipment for crop protection—methods for the field measurement of spray drift.]. The aim was to find an alternative sprayer classification procedure which did not require operation in stable wind conditions. A test bench system was developed to measure the potential drift generated by boom sprayers at Department of Agricultural Forest and Environmental Economics and Engineering (DEIAFA) of University of Turin. Experiments have assessed the ability of the system to discriminate the potential drift generated by different configurations of a conventional boom sprayer and to evaluate the influence of air temperature on the results.Comparison tests between the DEIAFA test bench and ISO methodology have been carried out on the same conventional boom sprayer equipped with traditional and air induction flat fan nozzles, working with three different boom heights (50, 80 and 100 cm). The drift risk classification was the same using the DEIAFA test bench or the ISO methodology. Reproducibility of results was however higher when the test bench was employed. Moreover, the DEIAFA device reduced considerably the time required to assess drift risk.